His hand closes around my throat before I can react, with crushing pressure.My airways constrict, and black spots dance at the edges of my vision.I can’t breathe, can’t speak, can’t do anything but stare into those empty eyes and wait for the end.
But I don’t make a sound.
Not a whimper.Not a gasp.Not a single noise that would give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s hurting me.
My silence enrages him more than any scream could.His grip tightens for a terrifying moment.I genuinely think this is it, this is how I die, strangled by the man my father wanted me to marry.
Then he shoves me away.
I gulp air like a drowning woman, my lungs burning, my throat on fire.But I keep my eyes locked on his.I won’t look away.I won’t show weakness.
Cesare runs a thumb over my lips, the touch obscene and possessive.“I’ve seen what you can do with these.”My stomach turns.“I’ve jerked off to the images of you sucking Boyle’s flaccid dick more times than I can remember.”
The surveillance footage.He’s confirming my suspicion.They’ve been watching us.Every intimate moment between Shelby and me, catalogued and studied by this foul creature.
Cesare’s hands move to his belt.The sound of his zipper coming down fills the small cell like a death knell.
“Open your mouth.”He pulls his dick out.A pale, thick, obscene thing that makes bile burn my throat.
I stare at him, keeping my expression blank even as terror claws at my insides.
“Come on, don’t play coy.You know how to do this,” he inserts his thumb between my lips, forcing them apart.
I bite down.Hard.
“Bitch!”
The slap that follows is brutal, my head snapping to the side so hard the bones in my neck crack in protest.Lights explode behind my eyes, and I think I might pass out.
For a heartbeat, everything goes gray.When my vision clears, Cesare’s face, a contorted mask of rage, hovers above mine.He grabs me, his nails digging into my cheeks hard enough to draw blood.“Your father will think he left these marks.”His voice is a hiss of pure malice.“But there are other places he won’t see.”
His free hand drops to my breast and squeezes.
The pain is excruciating.It feels like a vise crushing my tender flesh, grinding nerve endings until tears spring involuntarily to my eyes.Every instinct screams at me to cry out, to beg him to stop, to give him something, anything that might make this end.
I hold my ground.I bite my tongue so hard I taste blood.I clench my jaw until my teeth ache.But I don’t make a single sound.
Cesare brings his face close to mine.So close our noses nearly touch.His breath is nauseating, a mixture of stale wine and rotten soul.
“You need to learn your place, Serena.”His hand squeezes my other breast, then slides lower, pawing at me through my dress.“You’re not the untouchable mafia princess anymore.”He palms my sex roughly, and I force myself not to flinch.He slaps my ass hard enough to leave a mark.“Soon, I’ll own your pretty little body.I’ll fill every hole, cover every inch of your porcelain skin with my mark.”His smile is a grotesque parody of pleasure.“And when I’m tired of fucking you, I’ll rent you to the highest bidder.And then the next bidder, and the next one, until I have no use for you.”
He steps back, tucking himself back into his pants with one hand while sucking on his wounded thumb.He switches the lights off and closes the door behind him.
I’m alone in the dark again.
The silence is deafening.
I allow myself to feel.
The tears come first.
They burn down my cheeks like acid, and my body begins to shake.From head to toe, I tremble like a leaf in a hurricane.My breath comes in ragged gasps.My chest heaves with sobs I refuse to voice.
My soul shatters, fractured into so many pieces I don’t know if I’ll ever be whole again.
I stare into the darkness, letting the tears fall freely.There’s no one to see them now.The image of Shelby with that blonde woman haunts me.The feeling of Cesare’s hands on my body makes me want to claw off my own skin.
Everything shakes.
